Hindu women warm themselves by fires before taking a holy bath in the Saali River during the first day of the Swasthani Brata Katha festival at Sankhu in Kathmandu.

A blast at an anti-government rally in Thailand's capital Bangkok injured more than 30 people. The protesters want Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, whom they allege is influenced by her brother, deposed leader Thaksin Shinawatra, to step down.

Roger Federer of Switzerland serves to Blaz Kavcic of Slovenia during their men's singles match at the Australian Open 2014 tennis tournament in Melbourne.

A militiaman poses for a photograph on the outskirts of the capital of the Central African Republic. The UN warned earlier this week that the country was in a "mega-crisis" and that many in the population were living in fear because of religious and ethnic attacks.

At the Golden Globe awards Steve McQueen's historical tale, 12 Years a Slave, received the top honour of the night, winning best film drama. He is seen here at a party in Beverly Hills, California.

Passengers on the London Underground take part in the No Trousers Tube Ride event on 12 January, part of the Global No Pants Subway Ride.

Mount Sinabung which continues to spew ash in Indonesia's North Sumatra erupted more than 30 times on Tuesday.

A child helps his father arrange weapons at a checkpoint in Tancitaro, Mexico. "Self-defence groups" have now taken control of large areas of Michoacan state following an offensive against the Knights Templar drug cartel.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu paid tribute to former leader Ariel Sharon at a state memorial service in Jerusalem. Mr Sharon, regarded by many Israelis as a great warrior and statesmen but widely loathed in the Arab world, died aged 85 - after eight years in a coma.

Labour leader Ed Miliband said the UK's five largest banks are too powerful and should be forced to give up "significant" numbers of branches. The City had been "an incredibly poor servant of the real economy" for years and should be helping business grow and create jobs, he said.

Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron and Mayor of London Boris Johnson visited a Crossrail construction site underneath Tottenham Court Road. The Crossrail project, which is expected to be completed in 2018, will link Berkshire to the west of the capital with Essex to the east.

An Orthodox priest holds a cross in front of riot policemen in Kiev as Ukrainian veterans and invalids of Chernobyl's nuclear disaster protest against the state budget which does not provide support for them.

The right thumb of Rio's Christ the Redeemer statue was chipped by a lightning strike on Thursday. The statue, on Rio's Corcovado mountain, is struck between three and five times a year.